Gluten-free baking flours have gotten so good in the past decade or so, it hardly seems worth complaining about the minor shortcomings. And yet, there are a few words that come up in baking forums and online comparisons: gritty, crumbly, gummy, aftertaste. Mind you, as the competition has increased among brands — and as some companies have tinkered with their formulas — the degree of these complaints has lessened, but they’re still out there.
For many baking enthusiasts, the brand to beat is King Arthur. Why? It’s readily available in stores and online, and it has a solid reputation as a reasonable alternative to wheat flour. It’s priced well, too.
But in August 2026, Bob’s Red Mill launched a revised formula for its 1-to-1 gluten-free blend that appears to be a strong contender. What better time to conduct a side-by-side comparison of a few of the leading brands?
A Note on Selection
In addition to King Arthur and the new Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flours, I chose a couple of other longtime favorites to round out my taste test: Better Batter and Pillsbury. I chose these brands because of their reputation or availability and because, like King Arthur and Bob’s Red Mill, they provide easy, cup-for-cup substitutions for all-purpose wheat flour. I’ll get into the details of their performance below, but here’s a quick summary of how they did.
Gluten-Free Flour Alternatives At a Glance
| Flour | Ingredients | Availability | Price* | Best for |
| Better Batter Original Blend Gluten Free All Purpose Flour | White rice flour, brown rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, potato flour, xanthan gum, pectin (sucrose, pectin, citric acid) | Online through Amazon, Walmart, and betterbatter.org | $0.62/oz | Cookies or cakes where a little chew or spring is desired |
| Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour | Sweet white rice flour, whole grain brown rice flour, pearled white sorghum flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, xanthan gum | Grocery stores, online | $0.26/oz | Cookies, muffins, and cakes — especially when fluffiness is the goal |
| King Arthur Baking Company Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour | Rice flour, whole grain brown rice flour, sorghum flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, cellulose, vitamin and mineral blend (calcium carbonate, niacinamide [vitamin B3], reduced iron, thiamin hydrochloride [vitamin B1], riboflavin [vitamin B2]), xanthan gum, cellulose gum | Grocery stores and online | $0.18/oz | Cookies and cakes — especially when a fine crumb is the goal |
| Pillsbury Best Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Blend | Rice flour, potato starch, pea fiber, tapioca starch, xanthan gum | Grocery stores, online | $0.26/oz | All-around baking, especially when served the same day; some people may experience digestive discomfort from the pea fiber |
How I Tested Four Gluten-Free Flours
For my experiment, I chose the kind of a recipe that a lot of people find themselves making from time to time: a simple vanilla cupcake. Why? Because it has relatively few ingredients, a clean and easily recognizable flavor that does not overpower, and because it’s pretty easy to make (hey, if you were going to make the same recipe four times in one day, you’d choose something simple, too). And because even if you don’t do a lot of gluten-free baking, the chances are pretty good that one day, for large gathering or a kid’s birthday party, you’re going to have to show up with gluten-free cupcakes.
I wouldn’t say my test was exactly a controlled scientific experiment, but I did try to keep all variables the same except for the flour blend. I used a total of four sticks of butter from the same box, eggs from the same dozen, milk from the same carton. The cupcakes were all baked in the same muffin tin, using different color paper liners from the same package. Since the brands of flour that I tested all called for a cup-for-cup substitution for regular all-purpose flour, the quantity of batter (and hence the size of each cupcake) was the same as well.
In case you were wondering, here is the recipe I used. I made it pretty much as written. My only revision was that I reduced the sugar from 1 cup to 3/4 cup so that the flavor of the sugar wouldn’t overpower the flavor of the flour. Even with the reduced sugar, it was a great recipe that I recommend trying.
Flour-by-Flour Results by Brand
The One to Beat: King Arthur
King Arthur’s Gluten-Free Measure for Measure flour has been around since 2016, a respectable length of time. Overall it is a good flour, well priced, and suitable for most baking needs. I didn’t dislike it. But it came in third in my test.
This blend has a lot of stuff in it, including cellulose, a plant-derived product that adds structure but not nutrition. Derived from wood pulp, it passes through the digestive system pretty much unaltered. On the other hand, of the four brands I tested, King Arthur was the only one to list supplementary vitamins and minerals in its ingredients. You may like that, or you may not.
Batter performance: During mixing, this batter separated slightly and was a little thinner than the others. However, it spread and rose nicely, resulting in a nicely domed cake. The top cracked less than Pillsbury or Bob’s Red Mill, and although the cake texture was light with a fine crumb, it was a little stretchy.
Best for Chewy Bakes: Better Batter
Introduced in 2006 and still true to its original formula, Better Batter Original Blend Gluten Free All Purpose Flour is the grandpa of the flour blends I tested. Although it is hard to find anywhere except online, this product has a devoted following among longtime gluten-free bakers, and it commands a price reflective of a boutique brand.
Batter performance: Because this is the brand I regularly use, and because I know of its reputation, I assumed this is the flour I’d most like. Wrong! When compared side by side to the other flour blends, I actually liked it the least. The batter mixed up very thick and was sticky enough that it was challenging to spoon into the cupcake tins. It never spread and rounded on top the way the other batters did, resulting in a lumpy appearance. The texture of the cake was a little chewy and dense, and there was a slight but detectable acidic aftertaste.
Best for Fluffy Cakes: Bob’s Red Mill
The original version of Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour arrived on the market in 2014, but in August 2026, the employee-owned company introduced an updated formula complete with new packaging. The notable difference in the ingredients list is a switch from whole grain sorghum flour to pearled white sorghum flour. The pearling process removes the outer bran layer of the grain kernel and some of the germ, leaving a kernel that is milder in taste.
I was pleasantly surprised by the cupcake made with this flour. The batter was stiff enough to spoon into the tins but easy to work with. It rose well and domed nicely, although the tops of the cakes did crack slightly. Because of the presence of whole grain rice flour, I was expecting a certain grittiness. But I did not detect it in the finished cake. Instead, I bit into a light, fluffy cake with a very clean vanilla flavor. Overall, this cupcake was my favorite of the four.
A Strong All-Around Performer: Pillsbury
Even though Pillsbury Best Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Blend has been around since late 2014, I admit to never noticing it in my store before. That was my loss. There were several things about this product that I really liked. First, its ingredient list is short and simple. It was the only product that I tested to include pea fiber, a naturally occurring additive that improves structure in baked goods. Although not digestible by humans, the friendly bacteria in our guts love it, so it serves as a prebiotic in our diets. But as the bacteria ferment the pea fiber, the gas that’s produced as a byproduct has to go somewhere.
Batter performance: The batter was stiff enough to spoon into tins but not too stiff, making it very easy to work with. The cakes rose in the oven to a nice dome with a few cracks on top. They had an airy texture and nice crumb, a good vanilla taste and pleasant mouth-feel. However, the cakes were a littler drier than the others — especially the next day. Overall, this flour blend came in second place in my test.
How to Choose Your Next Gluten-Free Flour
Honestly, you can’t really go wrong with any of these King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour Alternatives. They all produce a good quality, gluten-free substitute for baked goods made with all-purpose wheat flour. But which one you choose may depend on your intended use and your budget.
If you plan to make a sponge cake or chewy cookies, Better Batter may be the way to go. Note that this blend does sit at a higher price point, especially when you add in shipping costs, so keep an eye out for sales, or buy from the company’s online sale and clearance section.
If you’re looking for noticeably fluffy cakes and clean flavor, give Bob’s Red Mill new formula a try. It is great in vanilla cupcakes, for sure. And the company says it also works well in sauces and fresh pasta.
If you’re looking for an all-around good performer especially for same-day serving, you might find Pillsbury to be a good choice. Although my cupcakes seemed a little dry the next day, they were delicious the same day they were baked.
If you are looking for a good flour at a good price, King Arthur could be your best choice. In my searches it often came in at the lowest price per ounce of the four brands I tested, but keep in mind that the package was larger. If you do a lot of gluten-free baking, that’s perfect! But if you just have a one-off gluten free baking project, a smaller package may suit you better.
